When the Wind is Not at Your Back

The Santa Ana winds were a howlin’. Strong and relentless, banging palm tree branches against our home. The last thing I wanted to do was get out of my warm bed, go out in the cold, and ride. But last week we all bailed with the same excuse, so this week had to be different.

As we rode our bikes on Almafi Drive, up into the Palisades Hills, the wind was not in our favor. Huge gusts would come out of nowhere. At times it felt like we were just going to get blown over. Knocked down. Hey, that wouldn’t be the worst place to be. I thought. Because at least if I got blown over, onto the ground, I’d have a moment of relief.

But here, on this climb, up the hill, legs burning, wind raging head-on, straight into my face — I remembered. I remembered the breath that was inside of me.

Some of you feel like you can’t catch a break. You are moving against the wind, it is far from being at your back. One powerful gust after another. It may feel like it’s been this way forever, you’ve almost lost track. You’re unsure how to keep going because it feels impossibly hard. You don’t think you can take it any longer. You don’t think you can make it that far.

But you see, the wind you carry in your very breath is more than capable of overcoming all of that. Those head-on winds are nothing compared to what you carry inside of you. A heart that is capable of overcoming. A heart that will make it through.

There will come a time when the wind dies down, the tides change, and favor is found once again. So don’t give up just yet. Keep going, you’ve got this. Your wind is strong, keep breathing. Breath after breath.